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Sunday, June 15, 2014

EXHIBITION: RIDERS 21 REDBLACKS 17

REGINA (CP) -- It didn't take much time for Brett Swain to feel comfortable in a Saskatchewan Roughriders jersey - about 15 minutes, in fact.

The rookie slotback hauled in two touchdowns Saturday to help lead the defending Grey Cup champs to a 21-17 victory over the Ottawa Redblacks in a CFL pre-season contest at Mosaic Stadium.

"I just had no idea what I was about to get myself into,'' Swain said. "The possessions and being on and off the field and not being able to make adjustments and doing everything on the run a I think I got used to all of that by the second quarter.''

That's when veteran quarterback Darian Durant entered the game. Durant orchestrated a 91-yard scoring drive with his first possession, one that was capped with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Swain to give the Riders a 14-10 lead.

Swain's second touchdown of the game came on the Riders' second offensive possession of the second half. Rookie quarterback Adam Weber found Swain for a four-yard touchdown strike, one that swelled Saskatchewan's lead to 21-10.

"I think (Swain) looked great,'' Durant said. "He has had a great camp and he has done a good job of learning the system and getting on the same page with the quarterbacks. I think he's going to have a role with us and I look forward to working more with him moving forward.''

With the departure of all-star slotback Weston Dressler to the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs and the retirement of the CFL's all-time leading receiver Geroy Simon, the Roughriders have a couple of holes to fill within their receiving corps. Swain's debut with the Green and White should earn him more playing time in Saskatchewan's second exhibition contest on Friday against the visiting Edmonton Eskimos.

"I had a couple balls come my way and I made the most of them,'' said the six-foot, 200-pound Swain. "It was a slow start for me still getting acclimated to the game, but I feel a lot more comfortable and I gained a lot of confidence today. I'm excited to come in here and watch the game film and learn where I can improve.''

The Redblacks, on the other hand, have more than just a couple of roster vacancies.

"You can see that (the Roughriders) are definitely in a rhythm and they're communicating well and are all on the same page,'' said Ottawa quarterback Henry Burris, who was 5-for-6 passing for 40 yards in limited time. "That's where we're trying to get to. We have a lot of guys competing for jobs.

"Other teams are just trying to plug a few holes. We're trying to put the whole kit and caboodle together here. We have a good idea of what we have, but we need to all be singing from the same sheet of music.''

Chevon Walker scored the Redblacks' first touchdown, a one-yard plunge, which was set up thanks to Jamill Smith's 77-yard punt return to Saskatchewan's two-yard line. Justin Palardy then booted a 44-yard field goal and the expansion Redblacks owned a 10-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

Thomas Demarco played under centre for much of the second half for Ottawa and completed 4-of-7 pass attempts for 97 yards. His lone touchdown strike came on a 60-yard pass-and-run with receiver Travon Patterson in the third quarter.

The Redblacks will visit the Montreal Alouettes on Friday, their second and final exhibition game. The Roughriders host Edmonton Friday evening on 620 CKRM.

Charity group ticket give away galore.... that's a fact. Most so called best fans in the world watching from the comforts of home via satellite provider, local cable companies, TSN2. Wonder if Rider brass second guessing no roof on new stadium build?

To the dimwit cfl executive that thought fans from the four corners of Saskatchewan would drive to regina to give money to Ottawa you got what was deserved, a Regina crowd. Next week, when the home team is Saskatchewan a Sakatchean crowd will be present. Can already feel it.

This preseason game was worth 10-20 bucks, as are all preseason games. The only reason attendance will be greater for this Friday's game coming up is they got them in their season ticket package. There will still be many empty seats from those who choose not to make the trip.

This game should have been given away like the preseason games of old (from Safeway, etc). Can't blame anyone for staying home. A major miscalculation as to the gullibility of 'rider fans and their willingness to constantly part with premium dollars for sub-par product.

Personally, if the teams don't care about the score and won't play their best personnel, why would they even think they should charge (near) regular ticket prices?

Last Anon you are wrong. There were just as many out of town fans as Regina fans at the game. The second part of your message is correct. Why would any SK fan want to participate in a stupid senariol where another team is considered the home team. To see them on the SK sideline just looked out of place and disrespectful to the Riders. I'm sure they will never do that again.

Pfft, Regina crowd?? Sorry to burst the bubble that is the fantasy that Rider games have just as many out of town fans as local fans, but the REALITY is that 80% of EVERY Rider home game comes from Regina. Training camps held in Regina are always better attended by fans than camps held in Saskatoon.

I think the Riders should for every home pre season game use the east side as their bench, giving the East side stands a chance to have the home team on their side for once a year. I know they enjoy their role in bothering the opposition in the regular season, but they should get to see the Riders close up on the bench once a season.

And they really should have had $20 tickets for this game. Goes to show as much as the teams maybe would love to have another game or two to evaluate players, the fans don't care for preseason football.

With today's attendance, maybe they should have played this game in Saskatoon and had a full stadium. This would have been a treat and reward to the Rider fans in Saskatoon and of central and northern Saskatchewan.

Embarassing effort from the Rider Nation. The team's first game back after winning a GC and that's the reception they get. Riders got 50 percent of revenue from this game yet many choose to ignore that saying they don't want to help put money in another teams bank account. There's a lot of d-bags in Riderville this weekend. A lot of them!

The only reason people pay for a preseason game is because they have to with their season ticket package. People didn’t have to pay for this game and they didn’t show up. The only team that would have drawn any sort of crowd, in this situation, was the Riders.

Congratulations to the people bragging they went to the game and blast others for not being true Rider fans, you fell for the gimmick and propaganda of paying full price to see 40 or more guys who will not be on the Ottawa team in one weeks time. You can’t even call them the REDBLACKS team because they haven’t officially made it yet.

It’s one thing to go to an opposing teams stadium and pay to watch the Riders in the regular season, it’s a whole new ball of wax to blow money on a game that doesn’t count toward the standings

Was searching the TV schedule for CFL stuff. Found tons of NFL and U.S. college almost by the hour. Zero Canadian college and only the TSN CFL. I know more about the NFL personalities than CFL and am not an NFL fan. I know the life stories of top U.S. College players but never heard of most CFL draft picks. Yet I hear the call for getting ESPN. Thank (someone) for 'In the Huddle', just wish Rider marketers would realize the value of participating more on that show.

Our Family has 14 season tickets - would you pay $700 to watch a pre-season game ? One pre-season game is included in your season ticket package, so you can't opt out - I don't have a problem with that.

I believe the Riders would handle this situation differently if they had a "do-over". Fans spoke with their absence, and I think the Riders are a little bit embarrassed with the small number in attendance. That's not a bad thing, as I believe the Riders will learn from this and will work at preventing complacency and taking things for granted from setting in. A bit of a humbling lesson. Rider fans are Great fans & are proud of their Riders, but everyone has their limit.... I think the Riders expected a little too much this time.

Completely agree that this should have been a game to have ticket giveaways for kids and charity groups. Cause really, Rider fans are like everyone else in that they don't have cash to just toss around whenever there is a promotion or whatever. Then the idiots come on and say that if u didn't attend that game then u aren't a true fan. That's pathetic! I guess that means that if you don't buy Riders windshield washer fluid and eat Riders chips u aren't a true fan either. Like come on, man.

Listened to much of the game yesterday and although it didn't have the vibe of a regular season game, Rod and Carm did their usual high quality game calling. We recorded the game to catch the highlights last night. There looks to be some potentially great players in town ! Excited for the season. Not so excited for TSNs constant rambling about Ottawa though, listening to the panel last night was awful. They did in fact apologize to Saskatchewan fans for turning it into the Ottawa show. It would have been nice to get a little feedback on how our team looks to them. Hopefully once the season starts the Ottawa RedBlacks are just another team in the CFL

Great comments. Hopson as Mazurak have it in their heads that if it's Roughriders, people will buy no matter what the cost. Ain't going to happen. Money isn't just falling off of trees and going to games gets very expensive.